We arrived at
the hotel at 9:00 on Friday morning. It is always so exciting to walk in and
see other OTR people go by as we check in! Randy Larson was in the hotel
restaurant when we went over to get our tickets, Bob Burchett came over and
hugged us, and we chatted with Ken Piletic. So many wonderful people!

After
depositing our luggage in the room, we went to the dealers’ room, where we
talked to the delightful J.R. Cooprider, said hello to Bruce Raleigh and Geoff
Brittingham, and saw Martin Grams at his fantastic book booth (where I bought a
biography of Tim Kelly, “America’s most prolific playwright”).

In addition
to the wonderful people, the dealers’ room was, as always, full of wonderful OTR.
I ended up returning several times to look through the $1 discs of MP3s that one
booth was selling and during the course of the weekend was able to find gifts to
bring back to all of my studentlings and friends. I also bought a cool t-shirt
from the Radio Researchers booth.

Figuring we
better grab some food before the official festivities started, Mama and I headed
over to Bob Evans and ordered some take-out food to keep in the room. When we
came back to the hotel, we said hello to Don Ramlow and hugged the amazing
Esther Geddes-McVey (who asked me, “Do you remember me?”). After greeting
Esther, we saw Meredith Grainger! Meredith, who is brilliant and charming, gave
me a few of his old t-shirts from previous conventions. OTR people are so
sweet!

While
Meredith explored the dealers’ room, Daddy and I talked to Dave Sorenson, who
reminisced about time he and his wife had spent with Hal Stone. We took
pictures with Bruce Raleigh, talked to a nice man named John who attended
Illinois State when it was still Illinois State Normal University, and then got
very excited when Steve and Rene Thompson arrived and Steve and Laura Jansen.
Before we knew it, it was time for all of us to gather for auditions for the
re-creations. Daddy got a role in Gunsmoke, and Mama and I both got
roles in The Whistler.

We talked to
some more magnificent people after the auditions, including Chad Rinne from
Nebraska and Rick Keating, who brought me a t-shirt with a picture of my dog,
Max (named after Jack Benny’s Maxwell) on the front. Soon it was time for
Gunsmoke rehearsal—what a fun script!

The Friday
evening festivities were wonderful. The Gunsmoke re-creation went
beautifully, there were a couple of ventriloquist acts that were a lot of fun,
and then Daddy hosted the OTR trivia contest (the best category was the Jack
Benny one). Everyone should enter the trivia contest next year! This year’s
winners were the Burchett Quartet (Ryan Ellett, Travis Conner, and two of their
friends from Radio Researchers whose names, unfortunately, escape me).

When the
trivia contest was over, Mama and Daddy and Meredith and Rick and Chad and I all
went to Graeter’s for ice cream. It was a perfect way to end such a happy day.

Saturday was
busy! First thing in the morning was rehearsal for The Green Hornet.
The All Ears Theatre people are so nice! Immediately afterward was rehearsal
for The Whistler. We spent more time in the treasure-filled dealers’
room, and I got a beautiful poster that had drawings of all of the radio stars
who were a part of the CBS line-up in 1950.

Saturday
afternoon was the raffle, The Whistler, and The Life of Riley.
Everyone gave terrific performances and many people came away with lots of fun
prizes. There was time to grab a quick dinner before the evening shows and
awards, so we headed over to a mall with Steve and Rene, Rick, Meredith, and
Chad to eat at the food court. It was a fun adventure. Before we knew it,
though, it was time to head back.

The evening
performances were The Green Hornet and Dragnet. Meredith was
fantastic as Joe Friday! The awards were wonderful as well (congratulations to
Randy Larson, Penny Swanberg, and all the other winners!), and Bob Burchett was
presented with a special plaque to commemorate the convention’s 25th
year.

It is always
sad when the convention is over, but its end only means that it is time to start
looking forward to next year. I can’t wait to see all of you again!